


A trip to the emergency room

by Abraham



Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:14:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26536390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abraham/pseuds/Abraham
Summary: A medical emergency causes Magnum to reveal something he didn’t intend to.
Relationships: Juliet Higgins/Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV
Comments: 15
Kudos: 111





	1. Chapter 1

Magnum was hunched over when he came down the steps into the study.

Higgins looked up from her phone call giving him a “what are you doing?” look.

He shrugged it off and sat down gingerly on the couch, waiting for her to finish.

“OK, yes. We can meet you in an hour,” Higgins said, and hung up the phone.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Just a little side pain. I think I pulled something on the surf-ski this morning.”

“Do you want me to go meet our client alone?”

“No. I’ll be fine. What did she say?”

“It seems rather straight forward. Our client, Mrs. Mayberry, feels that a family heirloom was stolen by her niece. She wants us to track it down.”

“What’s the heirloom?”

“A rather ugly broach from how she described it. She has some pictures and copies of the insurance information to give us. We should probably head over there now. She’s close to an hour away.”

He grimaced as he stood up, but pretended he was fine.

She knew that wasn’t true because when she announced that she was driving, he didn’t say a word in protest. As he settled into the passenger seat, she thought he looked pale, but he still insisted everything was fine.

By the time they reached their client’s house, beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

“Thomas. You need to see a doctor.”

“I’m”

“Don’t tell me you’re fine. You’re not fine.”

“Look. Let’s just get the information and then you can take me home and I promise I’ll rest.”

She didn’t like the plan, but since they were already at the client’s house, she agreed.

Mrs. Mayberry was quite excited to have company. She talked incessantly but stopped when she finally looked over at Thomas.

“Is your partner OK Ms. Higgins?”

Higgins panicked when she turned to Thomas. He was struggling to stay awake.

“Oh my god.”

She startled him awake and half dragged him to the car with Mrs. Mayberry’s help.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call an ambulance, dear?”

“No. Thank you. I’m going to take him straight to the hospital. I’ll be in touch about the case.” And she sped to the closest emergency room.

“Thomas, you are going to be in so much trouble when you’re feeling better.”

“I’m fine,” he whispered.

It turns out his appendix had ruptured. Higgins sat next to him while they were preparing him for surgery. Right before the anesthesia kicked in, she kissed and whispered how much she loved him. He smiled back at her and then was whisked away to the operating room.

Almost two hours later, the nurse came out to the waiting room.

“Juliet Higgins?”

“Yes. That’s me.”

“You can follow me. Thomas is out of surgery. We just moved him out of recovery. You can go sit with him. He’s a little out of it, but the anesthesia should wear off shortly. By the way, congratulations on the baby. He is very excited.”

Juliet’s eyes went huge. She refused to turn around to look at Kumu, T.C. and Rick.

She heard Rick hiss, “Baby?!”

And then, “I told you something was going on,” Kumu said.

It took Thomas another hour to fully come out of the anesthesia. Higgins sat next to his bed letting all the scary scenarios run through her mind until he finally started talking coherently.

“You scared me,” she said quietly, gently brushing his hair back from his forehead.

“I’m sorry.”

She gave him a small smile. “Just don’t ever do that again.”

“I will do my best to never have my appendix burst again.”

She rolled her eyes at that. “So, do you remember telling the nurse that I was pregnant?”

His eyes widened. “Did I? I don’t really remember anything after you kissed me right before the surgery.”

She smiled. “Yes, well, apparently you were very chatty in the recovery room.”

“I am a very congenial guy.”

“I don’t disagree.”

She paused and looked down at their hands which were linked together.

“The nurse congratulated me on my pregnancy in front of Kumu, Rick and T.C.”

“Oh. Shit.”

“I didn’t wait around to talk to them, but I’m sure they’d like an explanation.”

Higgins had suspected she was pregnant about a month after their relationship turned more serious. She was pretty sure it had happened the first time they slept together.

Thomas insisted on coming along to the store to buy a pregnancy test. It had been late, and they found a 24-hour convenience store. She had barely spoken on the ride there.

“Higgins,” he said, grabbing her hand as she went to get out of the car. She looked over at him. “Look. I want you to know that I’m serious about us. When we,” and he stumbled slightly over his words, “slept together, it meant I’m all in. Whatever happens with this test? I just wanted you to know.”

He was so sincere. She loved that about him. She smiled at him and got out of the car.

An hour later they were back home in the bathroom. Well, Thomas was outside the bathroom door. Higgins claimed she needed her privacy to pee on the stick.

“Come on Higgy. Let me in.”

“Magnum. You are extraordinarily annoying sometimes,” she said, yanking the door open. The stick was sitting on the counter. He looked at the front.

“It says it takes a few minutes.”

She sighed and sat down on the toilet seat.

He sat next to her on the edge of the bathtub and grabbed her hand.

“You washed your hands, right?” he said, teasing her to try to get her to smile.

She glared at him.

He squeezed her hand and they waited in silence for the next few minutes.

“I can’t look.”

“I’ll do it.”

He stood up and walked over to the counter. He didn’t say anything.

“Well?”

He turned to look at her. “We’re pregnant.”

She immediately burst into tears.

“Hey,” he said crouching down in front of her and pulling her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around him. “Shhh. It’s going to be OK,” he said, rubbing her back. “So we didn’t plan for things to happen this way. That’s what makes life so exciting.”

She sat back and nodded. “I know.”

He grabbed a tissue and handed it to her. She blew her nose and dried her eyes.

“Can we not say anything to anyone for a bit?”

“Sure.” He studied her.

“I’m OK Thomas. I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I just never pictured myself as a mum.”

He squeezed her hand. “You’re going to be amazing. Look, I’m terrified too. This is the thing, though. I’m always less terrified when I’m with you.”

She looked up at him. He was smiling at her and squeezing her hands and suddenly she felt that maybe she could do this. Maybe they could do this together.

“How do you always make me feel better?”

“Right back atcha,” he said.

And now, back at the hospital, three months after they found out about the pregnancy, they let Kumu, T.C. and Rick in on their little secret.


	2. A trip to the emergency room: Take 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Higgins has her own trip to the emergency room.

“Thomas Magnum?” Thomas usually let unknown callers go to voicemail. 

“Yes. This is Thomas. Can I help you?”

“This is Ann Marie Benson. I’m a nurse at County Hospital. We have Juliet Higgins here.”

“What? Is she OK?”

“I can’t give out any patient information beyond that she’s stable. She would really like to speak with you, though. I’m going to hand the phone to her.”

Thomas had just come into the house after his run when the call came in.

“Thomas?”

“Higgins! What happened?”

“Can you come here? Before I have my surgery?”

Thomas was running down the stairs, pulling on his shirt at the same time. 

“Surgery? What happened? I’m leaving right now. Are you OK?”

“I’m OK,” she said. But her voice sounded small and he was worried. “I was driving back from the store and a car cut me off. It turned around and started following me. I couldn’t reach my gun in time and he shot me in the arm.” She took a deep breath, trying to center herself.

“Slow down Higgy. Take a deep breath.”

But instead, it sounded like she was breathing too fast.

“Higgins! Listen to me. Breathe in and then breathe out.”

He heard her try.

“That’s it. Now, what was my nickname when I was growing up?” he asked, trying to distract her.

“What?”

“My nickname. You were trying to guess it the other day. Did you figure it out?” He was in his car, racing to the hospital.

“George?”

He chuckled. “It’s not George.” He could hear the nurse talking to her in the background.

“Thomas. I have to hang up. Please hurry,” she said. 

“OK. I’m almost there. Higgins, I …, just I’ll be there. Don’t worry.”

He heard her draw in a breath. “OK.”

He sprinted through the parking lot and found her in the emergency room. Her face was so pale and her eyes were pinched in pain.

“Hey,” he said, gently touching her hand. 

“Thomas. They want to give me anesthesia,” she blurted out.

“OK? I’m sure surgery would be very unpleasant without it. Higgy. You’re going to be fine.”

“But anesthesia can exacerbate dementia.”

“What?”

“Sometimes patients who have anesthesia, develop dementia quicker.” She looked down at her hand that was twisting the sheet into a knot. “What if that happens to me? You know my mum had dementia.” She looked up at him.

“Ah Higgy.” He sighed, sat down next to her and reached for her hand. “What did the doctor say?”

“He said it was unlikely. Even with dementia running in my family. He said I’m young and healthy. It would be more of an issue if I was 90.”

Thomas squeezed her hand. “You need to get that bullet out of your arm. I think that could cause more trouble than the anesthesia. I’ll be here the whole time.”

The doctor walked into the room. “Are we ready Ms. Higgins?”

She looked over at Thomas and tightened her grip on his hand. “Tell me what your nickname was when you were little.”

Her beautiful eyes studied his darker ones.

He gently brushed a curl off her forehead.

“It was Rosebud.”

“Rosebud?”

“Yes. And I’ll tell you why when you get out of surgery.”

He was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to kiss her. The anesthesiologist came in, though, saving him from embarrassing himself. Thomas didn’t let go of Higgins’ hand until he felt her grip loosen as she drifted to sleep.

He paced the waiting room for the next hour. T.C., Rick and Kumu arrived and sat watching him.

“Thomas, man, she’s going to be fine,” Rick said. 

He kept pacing like Rick hadn’t said a thing.

The other three exchanged a look.

“Is there something going on that we don’t know about?” Rick whispered. 

“I don’t think so,” Kumu said. “They’ve been bickering like normal.”

“Yeah, but did you notice that nurse checking Thomas out?” T.C. asked. “She kept trying to get his attention and it was like he couldn’t even see her.”

“Guys. I’m right here. Nothing is going on. I just hate feeling so helpless,” Thomas said.

Kumu’s eyes widened as she looked at Rick and T.C. again. Then she mouthed, “Something has definitely changed between the two of them.”

The others nodded in agreement.

Katsumoto arrived just then.

“What did you find out,” Thomas asked.

“We got the guy,” Katsumoto said. “We think it was a case of mistaken identity, unfortunately for Higgins. We’re just going to need the bullet from her arm. This could close a major armed robbery case we’ve been investigating for months.”

Finally, the doctor came out to get Thomas. He assured him that Higgins would be fine. The bullet didn’t do any major damage. She was in recovery and he was welcome to sit with her until she fully came out of the anesthesia.

As he walked toward her room, the relief he felt overwhelmed him. He realized how important Higgins was. In such a short amount of time, she became everything to him – his best friend, his moral compass, his confidant, his sounding board and his voice of reason, which now had an English accent. 

T.C. and Rick would always be there for him, but with Higgins, it was different. He spent way too much time lately trying to avoid thinking about why she was different. When Higgins walked into a room, even if he had just seen her 20 minutes earlier, he felt this weird happiness rush through him. Even if she was harping on him about leaving the Ferrari without gas or sending the dogs after him, just seeing her just made him incredibly happy.

He reached her room when he heard the nurse talking to her. He stood outside the door for a moment.

“Your husband is adorable.”

“Thomas? He’s not my husband,” he heard Higgins say.

“Oh, I just assumed. He seems to care about you a lot.”

“I don’t think he thinks about me that way. I wish he did.” She stopped herself. Where had that come from? What was with her blabbering to a complete stranger about Thomas.

Meanwhile, Thomas sucked in a breath from his post in the hall. “What?”

“I mean, oh hell, I really like him,” Higgins said, uncharacteristically open about her feelings. “It’s just that we’re business partners and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.”

“My husband and I wasted so much time early in our relationship because we were scared of being rejected. I say just go for it,” the nurse said. “Look. Are you happy when you’re together?”

“Yes,” Higgins said. “Even when he’s driving me crazy which is most of the time.”

Thomas smirked outside the door.

“What about interests? Do you like the same things?”

“Yes. Most of the same things. He hates my dogs though.”

Thomas nodded from his hiding place.

“Is that a deal breaker?”

He stood a little taller and strained to hear Higgins’ answer.

“No. Definitely not.” Higgins said. 

“Can you see yourself with him long into the future?”

Could she? Of course she could. She saw a slideshow in her mind. She saw them racing each other down the beach. And then a few years later with a baby between them. And holidays with their Ohana and school days and vacations and him holding her hand when they were too old to race down the beach anymore.

Tears leaked out the sides of her eyes. “Yes,” she whispered.

Thomas stood stunned in the hallway. 

“I think you have your answer,” the nurse said, squeezing her shoulder. “I think you need to tell him. I’m going to go put your discharge papers together.”

The nurse stopped at the door, which gave Thomas enough time to walk partway back toward the waiting room. “I want you to call me and let me know how this turns out,” she said. “I have a good feeling about the two of you.”

Juliet smiled at her. “Thank you.”

Thomas walked back to Higgins’ room and passed the nurse. She smiled at him. He took a deep breath and peeked around the door. Higgins already had her eyes closed. Would she remember that conversation when she woke up?

He sat down next to her and reached for her hand.

“I have a good feeling about us too, Higgy,” he whispered.

Later that night, he pulled into the driveway and looked over at her. She was still far too pale, but said she was feeling fine.

“Why don’t you stay with me tonight?” he said.

“What? Why?”

“Just so I can be there if you need anything.”

“Thomas, I’m a big girl. I think I’ll be OK.”

He was having serious doubts that she remembered her conversation at all with the nurse. 

Her breath hitched as she opened the door of the car. Why couldn’t she just let him take care of her? It wasn’t like she needed help, but maybe just once she wanted it.

He was looking at her with such kindness and something else that she was afraid to think about.

“I’ll be fine Thomas. Thank you for picking me up.”

“Call me if you need anything or if you don’t feel good or if you just want company.”

She smiled a small smile at him and got out.

She had only been home an hour and she was miserable. Kumu was visiting her cousin on the other side of the island for the night. She wandered into the kitchen to find something for dinner. Her arm ached and she was frustrated with herself for avoiding Thomas. The bowl dropped to the ground and shattered before she realized what was happening. Seriously? Could this day get any worse? She reached down to pick up the pieces and cut her thumb. It wasn’t deep, but that was the last straw. She let the tears come as she leaned against the sink.

All of a sudden Thomas was there.

“Higgy!” He gently took her hand and looked at her thumb before rinsing it in the sink. “What’s going on?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m checking on you.”

“I guess I’m not doing as well as I thought I was.”

He had her sit at the kitchen table while he got a bandage. He gently rubbed antiseptic cream on the cut.

“Why was your nickname rosebud?”

He had forgotten he told her that.

“Apparently when I was born, my lips were pursed into what looked like a rosebud and my mom thought it was adorable. Thank goodness my dad convinced her to stop calling me Rosebud before I got to elementary school.”

She smiled at that as he finished putting the bandage on.

He leaned back and looked at her. “OK. You have two choices. Either I stay here tonight or you come home with me.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“Nope. No attitude. Those are the choices.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Good choice.”

She smirked, but actually looked relieved. 

“Go get what you need for the night while I clean this up.”

When she came back with a small bag, he took it from her and grabbed her hand, careful to watch her bandaged thumb. “Come on tough guy. I’m going to make you some soup.”

She fell asleep on the couch as soon as she finished eating.

Thomas cleaned up the dishes and walked over to the couch. “Higgy. Come on. I’m going to tuck you in.”

She snorted in her sleep.

He leaned down and pulled her into his arms. She immediately relaxed against him.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered against her hair. “You’re going to be just fine.”

He carried her to his bedroom. He hadn’t intended on staying, but she curled toward him when he laid her down. He laid down himself and carefully slipped his arm under her shoulders drawing her against him. She sighed in her sleep and her hand curled against his chest.

He finally felt the tension of the day leave his body.

Hours later, she woke up warm and safe in his arms.

“Thomas? Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Always.”

As he tightened his arm around her he thought, maybe it was time to talk about the future.

**Author's Note:**

> What if Higgins had the medical emergency? What would her secret be?


End file.
